Bahrain’s parliament has unanimously voted to stop building permits being issued for nightclubs and bars in the residential and commercial district of Juffair, accusing them of destroying moral values, a report said.

Three MPs are spearheading the crackdown and say they are acting on complaints from residents in Juffair who claim they are unable to go out at night with their families due to drunks roaming the streets and fighting, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

The number of road accidents has also increased as a result of the problem, said MP Hassan Bukhamas.

"Enough is enough and complaints have increased in the area after more nightclubs and bars have been opening," he told MPs during the weekly parliament session.

"These places became vice dens as they are not being monitored by authorities concerned. Residents are worried to go out at night with their families due to the number of drunken people roaming the streets. Accidents have increased, as well as fights between drunken people. It's increasing policemen's workload further."

MP Ahmed Qarrata said the whole of Juffair had to be re-planned as it hosted residential and tourist areas alongside commercial properties.

"We hope to start with Juffair and then cover the whole of Bahrain," he said. "Clubs open from 8pm to 3am, you feel like you are not in Bahrain. There are more (clubs and bars) than houses in the area and it is leading to complaints from residents."

MP Abdulhakim Al Shemmeri said such "dirty institutions" had dragged the youth of the region away from religion.

"These dens or dirty institutions are luring our youth from Bahrain and the GCC away from religion and affecting the country's security," he said.

"If Bahrain wants to protect its security, it should close these places which only benefit a few who do not care about Islam. They (the beneficiaries) are worse than Hizbollah."

Al Shemmeri said nightclubs and bars only benefited drug dealers, alcohol sellers and human traffickers and claimed most Bahrainis did not approve of them being allowed to operate here.

He claimed they were also "ruining homes" across the GCC, as they cause divorces, spread depravity and moral indecency.

"We have more than 5,000 prostitutes marketing their bodies, while on the other side we have taken up a fight against human trafficking," said Al Shemmeri.

"We need to fight this by stopping more clubs in the area and then hopefully spreading the move to the whole of Bahrain." MPs unanimously voted in favour of the proposal, which will now be studied by the Cabinet. – TradeArabia News Service